You are currently viewing our boards as a guest, which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community, you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content, and access many other special features. In addition, registered members also see less advertisements. Registration is fast, simple, and absolutely free, so please, join our community today!

Peter thank you, that was a very comprehensive explanation. I can visualize what I will be doing. I guess my next step is to go for it. As far as reference point I guess I should look down the edge from the heel (choil shot) to get a starting reference point and then inspect as I go to gauge the amount thinned?

Thanks again for your help

Sailor

Post subject: Re: How to approach thinning

Posted: Fri Nov 15, 2013 7:27 am

Joined: Tue Jul 24, 2012 7:28 amPosts: 859

That is a good approach yes, also, just feel the area with your thumb and index finger but there is nothing better than a good visual. Keep in mind that you can do this in stages too, and painting the area to be thinned with a sharpie is helpfulgood luck.Peter

Ok an updateI just got a new contract with a very busy/popular restaurant and was handed a box of knives, many of them the dreaded boning knives, the ones that have very small blades but these ones are so thick that it would be like sharpening a metal ruler.

Now the chef knives which there are many of, are those white handled Lamson I think they are called. They have massive shoulders and these could be the poster knives for TOO THICK. If I just wanted to sharpen the primary edge, I would have had to sharpen at a ridiculously obtuse angle, so that wasn't even a consideration. So the thinning process was a must.I tackled these knives differently than I have in the past and have done 5 of them, to me, it was taking Conan the Barbarian and transforming him into a ballerina, those huge shoulders had to come down.

So I followed Jason orders and chose to do the work at ONE acute angle, I don't know what the angle is, it is just acute, maybe 12-15 degrees. To do this, I painted the entire bevel area and started the work on my DMT XC plate (I am saving my Atoma 140 for flattening only). It was pretty cool actually, I monitored the progress very frequently and at first only the top of the sharpie marked area was erased, I wasn't even close to the edge. So I could have raised the angle a little but when someone like Jason tells me something, I figure it is worth checking out. I normally spend 15-20 min on a knife, (1 min to inspect, 7 min to raise burr on coarse stone, 6 min to refine and 1 min to pat myself on the back). It took me 20 minutes to reach the edge, using the same angle and just being patient but it was encouraging seeing that painted area get more narrow and the thickened area becoming thinner.So after that, the whole process became much easier, I went from the plate to the Nub 150 which really came to life, then to a SG500, 1k chosera and 5k Chosera. I cannot tell you how pleased I am with the results, a huge difference and what is really cool is that these knives will be much easier to sharpen the next time.I also spent a little time on the amazing Sigma Power Select II 13k stone to give those bevels a really beautiful polish.

So thanks, I have learned on this forum that there are always options, better ways to achieve desired results and I will be eternally grateful my friends here who continue to guide me.

I added an extra minute to my sharpening time to show my wife the results, she is great at pretending she is interested.

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot post attachments in this forum